In Love With AA

Hello, my name’s Sue and I’m an alcoholic. I’m at the Leeds 75th convention at the moment and it’s absolutely marvellous here. I’ve seen people that I already knew from lots of different places in different areas. I’m from Hastings so that’s quite a journey but there’s people here from Scotland - the other end of the country. I’m just very glad to be here.

I’m now 16 ¾ years sober. I’m one of the lucky ones because I started drinking again at 10 years and once I started drinking I thought “I know how to do this; I know how to stop and stay stopped; I don’t need AA any more; I really don’t need to go to the meetings.” So, for 11 years I tried to do it my way and guess what - it didn’t work. But that’s easy to say because fortunately I came back 16 ¾ years ago and I haven’t had a drink since. I threw myself back into AA and did everything I did the first time - I did everything that was suggested. However, the thing about this Programme is that you’ve got to keep doing it - you’ve got to keep doing Steps 10, 11 and 12. I spend a lot more time on Step 11 than I ever did in the past and it’s made a huge difference. The prayer and meditation really have made a huge difference to me. I don’t react quite as much as I used to.

So, I’m a very happy customer to be here. I love Leeds. I don’t think I’ve ever been here before. It’s lovely to see all the exciting young people out, having a great time – people who can probably just put the glass down at the end of the evening and not be like me, who’d say “Well, I’ve got a hangover and I need a beer”. That was a different story.

I’m grateful to be here and yes, just in love with AA. Thanks for letting me share.

Sue (recorded via audio, Leeds 75th)